Suhel Quader

Scientist, Education and Public Engagement

PhD

My main interest is in engaging with the larger public in better understanding the natural world and how it is changing. This is sometimes called Citizen Science or Public Participation in Scientific Research. Our projects along these lines are run in collaboration with the National Centre for Biological Sciences, as well as other partners. We work through the Bird Count India partnership to better understand the distribution, seasonality and abundance of birds. And in SeasonWatch, we work with schools and individual participants to investigate seasonal patterns in leaf-flush, flowering and fruiting of trees. Everyone is welcome to participate!

My formal background and training is in the field of animal behaviour and evolutionary ecology. Over the years, I have studied various aspects of animal behaviour: flocking in Cinereous Tits, mate choice in Baya Weavers, and brood parasitism by Koels on Crows. With students and collaborators we have asked questions about plant-pollinator interactions, the behaviour of mosquito larvae, and the demographic responses of birds to forest alteration.

Apart from these interests in the natural world, I spend a fair bit of my time thinking about how ecologists ask and answer research questions, including about the quantitative and data analytic techniques we use and should be using.

Nectar larcenists extract nectar from flowers without pollinating them. A reasonable expectation is that any form of nectar larceny should have a detrimental effect on the plant’s reproductive success. However, studies reveal an entire range of effects, from highly negative to highly positive. This variation in effect may be partly explained by additional, unmeasured, effects of nectar larcenists on plants. In a study system where two ant species Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabr.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerd.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) act as nectar larcenists, we examined the effect of larceny on the female reproductive success of Clerodendrum infortunatum Gaertn. (Lamiales: Lamiaceae) in rain forest fragments of the Western Ghats, India. This was done through a combination of field observations and a series of field experiments looking at the effects of excluding ants from inflorescences. We found that T. destructor reduces fruit set considerably. Rather than this being a consequence of nectar larceny, however, our experiments show that the negative effect arises instead from the herbivorous behavior of the ant. At a population level, both ant species prefer edges over interiors of forest patches, spatially concentrating the interaction zone to forest edges. Simultaneously considering multiple ecological interactions and disentangling their relative contributions might explain the large variation across species in the observed effect of larceny. The overall population effect of nectar larceny and herbivory is likely to depend on the spatial structuring of plants and ants.

Book Chapter

In press

Tracking phenology in the tropics and inIndia: the impacts of climate change

Nectar larcenists extract nectar from flowers without pollinating them. A reasonable expectation is that any form of nectar larceny should have a detrimental effect on the plant’s reproductive success. However, studies reveal an entire range of effects, from highly negative to highly positive. This variation in effect may be partly explained by additional, unmeasured, effects of nectar larcenists on plants. In a study system where two ant species Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabr.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerd.) (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) act as nectar larcenists, we examined the effect of larceny on the female reproductive success of Clerodendrum infortunatum Gaertn. (Lamiales: Lamiaceae) in rain forest fragments of the Western Ghats, India. This was done through a combination of field observations and a series of field experiments looking at the effects of excluding ants from inflorescences. We found that T. destructor reduces fruit set considerably. Rather than this being a consequence of nectar larceny, however, our experiments show that the negative effect arises instead from the herbivorous behavior of the ant. At a population level, both ant species prefer edges over interiors of forest patches, spatially concentrating the interaction zone to forest edges. Simultaneously considering multiple ecologicalinteractions and disentangling their relative contributions might explain the large variation across species in the observed effect of larceny. The overall population effect of nectar larceny and herbivory is likely to depend on the spatial structuring of plants and ants.

A few breeding populations of White-rumped Vultures (Gyps bengalensis) still survive in pockets
of their original vast range in India, having weathered a diclofenac-induced population decline of 99.9%
since the early 1990s. These breeding populations are potential sources of recruits, now that the overall
population appears to be stabilizing or even recovering in some areas. We studied two White-rumped
Vulture nesting colonies in the Raigad district of coastal Maharashtra in 2013–2014, to investigate site-
specific nesting success and nest-site selection. Our overall aim was to better understand the capability of
these remnant populations to contribute to the stability of vulture populations at a landscape scale. We
found that vultures preferred to nest in taller trees. Nest failure was high before hatching but declined
thereafter. Overall nesting outcome was unrelated to the distance of the nest from areas of disturbance, but
may have been influenced by characteristics of nest trees. The percentage of successful nests was higher in
the smaller colony, suggesting that colony size may not be the only best criterion for targeting conservation
efforts.